Group donates K-9 safety sensor to Greencastle police

The furriest member of Greencastle's police force will be safer when he's out on patrol thanks to a donation by the Pennsylvania K-9 Assistance Foundation of Bucks County.

By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

GREENCASTLE — The furriest member of Greencastle's police force will be safer when he's out on patrol thanks to a donation by the Pennsylvania K-9 Assistance Foundation of Bucks County.

The foundation, headed by Mike Decher, a retired police officer who spent 22 years with the Northampton Township police near Philadelphia, donated a temperature-controlled heat sensor for Officer Keith Russell's vehicle.

The sensor will help keep Russell's partner, GPD's K-9 cop Rony, a German shepherd-Belgian malinois mix, from overheating in the vehicle if Russell has to leave it. When the temperature reaches a certain point, the device will automatically lower the windows, turn on the ventilation system and alert Russell via beeper.

Deadly threat

"Heat is more dangerous to a dog than cold," said Jules Ferraro, technical adviser to the foundation and a K-9 police dog trainer who has spent a total of 24 years in law enforcement.

Decher and Ferraro said the conservative estimate is that nationwide four or five police dogs die of heat exhaustion each year, but there is "really no way to know for sure."

The foundation decided to make the donation to the Greencastle Police Department after Decher read a newspaper article about Rony and Russell in early fall.

"Most of these guys operate on a shoestring budget," Decher said.

After a few phone calls, Decher finally got in touch with Russell and told him he had a free heat detection unit for him. The unit usually sells for $1,500, according to Decher.

And Russell's reaction?

"I think I surprised the heck out of him," Decher said.

Police partners

Both Russell and Greencastle Chief of Police John Phillippy assert just how important Rony is to the police department.

"I can't put a price tag on it," Russell said.

"I'm the luckiest one in the whole department. I will always have a partner, someone to protect me forever, no matter what," Russell said.

Russell gives commands in Czechoslovakian to Rony, and the dog obeys as quickly as Russell can speak them. Rony came from the Eastern European country because of the quality of his bloodlines, which feature a long tradition of police dogs.

Rony's training, which Russell initially did with him when the department received the dog in 2009, has to be maintained every couple of weeks and the pair heads to Maryland to work with specialists.

But the vigorous schedule pays off, according to Russell.

"At home, he's a pet," the father of four said. "At work ... he loves going to work."

Work for Rony includes sniffing out evidence and narcotics, tracking down individuals who could be suspects, victims or lost, suspect apprehension, and protecting Russell when confronted by aggressive individuals.

"Very few people will fight a dog," Russell said. "Just him barking is a huge deterrent."

Phillippy said that Rony, who wears his own Greencastle police badge, is dispatched when needed to help other police in the area as well. He recently helped police in Fulton County track a suspect through 3 1/2 miles of wooded area, with Russell right by his side.

Community support

Phillippy and Russell estimate that it takes between $3,500 and $4,000 each year to take care of Rony, including food costs, health care and training. But Rony is "majorly funded" by donations from the community, Russell said.

"He was even donated by a resident in Greencastle," Russell said. The anonymous resident paid $13,000 to initially obtain Rony for the police force.

Food Lion donates a bag of dog food; Greencastle Veterinary Hospital provides free checkups; even The Tennis Club in Zullinger gives Russell old tennis balls for Rony to play with.

"These dogs give 100 percent of themselves," Phillippy said. "(The donations) all go to benefit the dog, and the dog benefits the community."

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